UVA football coach Mike London talks with reporters on Wednesday on the ACC Coaches Teleconference.
MIKE LONDON: Good afternoon, everyone. This is the second week in a row that we’ll play a team that the previous week won on the very last play of the game. Coach Scott has got the guys down at Miami playing very well. It’s a road game for us against a very, very talented Miami team, but we look forward to traveling down there and having an opportunity. So a great week of practice, a great couple days of practice here, and the guys have got a great mindset.
Q. Mike, we talked to Matt Johns earlier today. He said last week he tried to go back to fundamentals. Were there some things you guys pointed out to him to cut down on his interceptions?
MIKE LONDON: I think what you saw of Matt, there were a couple times that his opportunity to hitch up in the pocket — if the receiver, secondary receiver is open, then throw it. If not, use your legs. So there’s always options and opportunities, but we want you to be smart about how you use the ball or how you distribute the ball. Guys sometimes tend to want to force throws or make throws there, but take what the defense gives you. So Matt had a good week of preparation last week. He continues to do it the last few practices this week, and we’re going to need him to continue that because this is a very fast, athletic Miami defense. Just taking care of the ball is something that’s important.
Q. Just seeing that lateral against Duke and knowing, obviously, Larry Scott coming in and doing more with special teams now, as he said, as interim head coach, just how you can prepare for a scheme like that on special teams.
MIKE LONDON: There’s fundamentals about setting the edge, leverage, running to the ball, different things. So that’s one of those things that you practice, but you don’t practice all the time, but it’s one of those last play scenarios that happens that you have to be alert and aware to. They have a great return game — and, obviously, that return was something that was a significant return because it allowed them to win the football game, but there’s fundamentals in everything you do, whether you’re kicking off or kickoff returning. There’s some principles that should be applied to try to defend a play like that. Like I said, they did a great job of executing that, eight laterals or whatever it was, great job of executing it and bringing it home for a touchdown. So our guys are always — you should always be alert and aware to not just kickoffs, punt returns, or anything else that’s out there that that other team could gain an advantage. But they did a great job executing that.
Q. And speaking of execution, just what you can say about Matt Johns right now and how you feel he’s kind of playing, and obviously coming off a win against Georgia Tech, but where he is right now compared to your expectation of him at this point.
MIKE LONDON: It’s always important that we get better from game to game and always gauge ourselves to the things we need to continue to keep working on. I believe Matt improved from the last game, this past game, from what we asked him to do and the things we asked him to do, and take care of the football was one of them. Matt’s in the top level in the ACC in terms of yardage. So he’s a guy that’s productive and can be productive. We need Matt to play, as I was asked before about playing within himself and making the plays that the defense of the situation dictates and not trying to make too much of it on his own. As long as Matt continues to do that and use the abilities and talents he has, I believe he can continue to get better. It’s going to be important going down the stretch here that he plays lights out football. He’s very capable of doing that, and I know he looks forward to going down to Miami and playing a very good Miami football team.
Q. It seems that Smoke Mizzell is tougher, maybe a lot tougher than he looked the first two years. Is that a fair perception?
MIKE LONDON: What he is, he’s a lot smarter and has a lot of wherewithal, vision, things that have been developed. A lot of people like to put accolades and expectations on the young man. He learned how to be a football player. He learned the elements of blocking as a running back, of pass protection, how to catch, how to set up a route versus a linebacker, recognizing coverages. So he’s matured as a young man. He’s become a better football player because of it, and that’s the critical part about all these young men that come in the programs very highly touted, that there’s an element of humbleness that they go through and also an element of learning and becoming better by putting the physical tools and talents together with the mental part of it. I can say that Smoke has done a great job of taking that and embracing it and becoming a really great football player for us.
Q. How about his toughness?
MIKE LONDON: Yeah, he’s physically tough. He’s mentally tough. He’s demonstrated that over and over and over again. Like I said, he’s one of our best players on this team, and he’s really stepped up from a leadership standpoint. Again, he’s done well in school. There’s so many positive things I can say about him. That he’s managed his outside expectations very well. As I said, he’s one of my favorite guys. So I’m happy for him because, when he’s doing well, he’s productive, then we’re a good football team.
Q. Talk about how great was Miami’s secondary with (Corn) Elder and (Artie) Burns and all those people against Duke. Are they going to give you some trouble on Saturday?
MIKE LONDON: You look at them, as I said before, they’re very athletic. They can run. (Deon) Bush, Burns, Elder — you mentioned all those guys with the interceptions and the tackles for losses and just all the things, the experience that they bring. So it’s important that the running game for us allows us to do some things not only on the inside, but on the perimeter, and also to challenge them. They’re very good players, and we have to be able to challenge them with our receivers as well. For sure, they’re in the tops in turnovers created, and that’s by no mistake based on how aggressive they play.
Q. I know Miami is doing a Military Appreciation Day down there. What’s it like for you going to play for military and all that stuff? I know you’re pretty big — you have some family who were in the military, right?
MIKE LONDON: My dad is retired Air Force, Vietnam vet. I always have respect for the men and women in uniform and the services they have provided for the country. It’s always — the game is a game in itself, but the people that you recognize and honor because of their service, that’s important as well. I believe it’s their homecoming as well. I know they’re wearing black. It’s a situation where you want to identify those people that have fought for this country bravely, and to be a part of it, any time you’re involved in a game that shows military appreciation, because I am the son of an ex, 30-year retired Air Force guy, it’s a great honor.
Q. You guys have won four of the last five meetings with Miami. Is there something about the matchup that has been in your favor?
MIKE LONDON: No. You know, I don’t know. I just know that our kids have played well against them. It’s always important for us to be prepared, to play with energy. I know Coach Scott has talked about his guys playing with energy. Well, when you’re on the road, we’ve got to do that. The way I look at it, it’s a road opportunity for us, so that’s important for us to be successful in that capacity. It just happens to be Miami that’s the opponent we’re playing. Like I said, they’re a very good team, quality team. They’re looking to get back and get the Miami swagger back and all those things, but we’ve got to make sure we play smart, we play aggressive, and we limit penalties and do the things that we can to be successful on the field. Again, I don’t know the secret, but the secret to winning games is something we’ve talked about off and on here throughout this season, and we’ve got to do a good job of that.
Q. Something I mentioned to Coach Scott that’s interesting to me, the last three years, the team that’s won the Coastal has been 6-2. Both of your teams are two losses at the moment. I know you need some help, but do you still feel like you’re in the Coastal race?
MIKE LONDON: Obviously. It’s one of those things that you look at the losses we’ve had against UNC and Pitt. We still have, again, first things first mentality — Miami, Virginia Tech, and Duke are games that are in the Coastal, and then Louisville for us. When you look at it, all you can do is just do all you can do, and obviously you have three teams that are sitting up there with two with one loss and one with no losses with still games left to play. All we can do is look at our opportunities right now, and our opportunity to extend postseason play has to start with winning games here down the stretch. As you said, you alluded to the fact that two wins and you can be a representative of this conference. That’s borne true. For us, it’s about this game. It’s about winning a road game. It’s about having some success as we start building towards the end of the season.
Share
Contributors
